CN103957611A - Method for producing a plate element comprising a circuit board - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves manufacturing a carrier plate (20) from plastic by an injection molding process. A metal plate (10) is punch-processed for forming surface elements (11.1-11.5) and contact tongue retainers (13). The surface elements are connected with each other by connecting bars (12). The contact tongue retainers are provided in the surface elements. The carrier plate and the metal plate are joined and subsequently separated by the connecting bars. Each surface element is form-fit connected with the carrier plate during joining.

Description

Method of manufacturing panels

This application is a divisional application of a patent application filed on March 30, 2012, with the application number 201210095973.9, and the title of the invention is "Electrothermal device having a plate with a conduction path and the manufacturing method of the plate", all of which The contents are hereby incorporated by reference.

technical field

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a panel. The board has conductive paths and includes contact lug sockets for electrically connecting the contact lugs.

Background technique

An electric heating device with such properties is known, for example, from EP1 872 986 A1, which also originates from the applicant. In the state of the art, the housing forms a chamber in which the heat of the heating element is conducted into the liquid medium. For this purpose, electric heating elements are arranged in a plurality of U-shaped heating chambers and are in thermally conductive contact with the walls of the heating chambers, outside which a liquid medium flows.

However, a conventional electric heating device may also be formed by an electric auxiliary heater for heating the air in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. In this case, the housing is usually formed by a frame in which a plurality of heating elements are held in a layer structure comprising a heat sink element adjoining the heating elements and in which the air to be heated flow over the device element. Here too, the heating element comprises a PTC element, which has a sheet metal border adjoining it on both sides. A single sheet metal trim emerges from the layer structure to form contact lugs at the sides. An electric heating device having this characteristic is described, for example, in EP1 157 867 A1.

With such common heating devices, there is a necessity of simply touching the heating element. Here, the heating element is usually pre-assembled in the housing before any electrical connections are made to the heating element. Therefore, there is often a need for a plug connection which facilitates a simple but efficient and permanent electrical connection to the contact lugs of the heating element.

A heating device known from EP 1 872 986 A1 provides a plurality of heating elements in parallel rows. Each heating element has two contact lugs, each of which must be connected via a plate. In this respect, EP1 872 986 A1 discloses a conductor plate with conductive paths for associated contact lugs and contact lug receptacles electrically connected to said conductive paths, grouping the various contact lugs to the heating circuit and further supports the flat plug. These flat plugs are housed in the sockets of a further conductor board and are electrically connected to said conductor board, said conductor board comprising circuits for the open and closed loop control of said electrothermal device, from which a single heating circuit can be performed convert.

Circuit boards are expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, due to the specific conduction paths, the circuit board does not allow any modifications to form different heating circuits or different conduction paths. Furthermore, the contact lug sockets are, for example, soldered to the conductor plate and are thus electrically connected to the conductive path. This not only requires elaborate manufacturing methods, but also limits the temperatures at which prior art panels can be used.

Contents of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a plate comprising conductive paths which can be manufactured more simply and at lower cost. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing a panel.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a panel comprising conductive paths, wherein the carrier is made of plastic material by injection molding and the metal panels undergo a stamping operation to form joints connected together by connecting ridges area element in which a contact lug socket is arranged, the carrier plate and the metal plate are connected and then the connection ridge is separated.

In order to solve the problems associated with this device, the present invention provides an electrothermal device. The electric heating device of the present invention is different from the electric heating device of the prior art in that the plates in the electric heating device of the present invention include a carrier plate of non-conductive material and a stamped metal plate. The carrier plate and the stamped metal plate are joined to form a unit.

The carrier is generally made of a non-conductive plastic, preferably by injection molding, so that the carrier can include more functional surfaces or elements, which facilitate mounting in or on the housing for Completion of housings or assembly of other components such as electronics or cable routing. As a plastic, Procan, PPT GF30 (CTI600) or other relatively heat-resistant plastics can be considered. This offers the possibility of subjecting the board to higher temperatures, especially when the electrical connection to the metal board is made by insertion only without any solder connection. The parts that provide the structural integrity of the panel (ie carrier) can be made as desired and are limited only by the possibilities of injection molded manufacturing. However, with the plate according to the invention, the conducting path is made of a stamped metal sheet. The stamped metal sheet can be produced economically and subsequently joined to a carrier plate.

As suggested in a further improvement, since the contact lug socket is formed as one piece by stamping and bent on the metal plate, the connection of various parts for the electrical connection of the heating element to the plate can be avoided. For this purpose, the metal plate is preferably made of cold-drawn, good-contact material (eg CuSnNi1Mg) covered with a thin coating of a few microns of silver and/or copper/tin. Here, for a defined contact of the contact lugs on the oppositely arranged sides of the contact lugs, the contact lug receptacle has an abutable contact spring which abuts against the contact lugs under a certain pressure. .

The invention therefore offers the possibility to form the conducting path and the elements required for the connection of the contact lugs in one part by stamping and bending of a metal plate which is hardened and positioned on the housing The connection is to a carrier plate which is specially formed for this purpose and which is made of economical plastic.

In order to further simplify the electrical connection, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention it is proposed to provide at least one flat plug held by a flat plug holder formed as one part on the carrier. The flat plugs usually protrude from one side of the carrier plate, and that is to say from the upper side facing away from the metal plate. For electrical contacting of the flat plug, the metal plate includes a flat plug contact socket formed correspondingly to the flat plug. The flat plug contact socket is also preferably equipped with a contact spring, so that electrical contacting of the flat plug takes place only by inserting said plug into the flat plug contact socket.

The stamped metal sheet of the panel according to the invention then comprises conducting paths and sockets for contact lugs on the one hand and for flat plugs on the other hand, preferably cut out only by stamping, whereby Electrical contacting takes place by inserting contact lugs or flat plugs directly into the conductive paths. The panel of the invention can thus easily come into contact with the heating element and with the power supply or circuit for this purpose. The plate itself (without the electric heating device) is also essential for the invention, having the features of claim 1 and its further developments according to the dependent claims.

The flat plug is preferably formed from a sheet metal strip and has at least one locking projection protruding from the side of the sheet metal strip and formed by punching and bending. The flat plug is locked to the flat plug holder by the locking protrusion. Typically, flat plug holders include an undercut for this, which is formed adjacent to the insertion and retention slot for the flat plug, and which clamps on the locking protrusion after the locking protrusion has passed through the slot. The undercut is in the middle. Thereafter, the locking protrusion prevents the flat plug from being pulled out in the opposite direction due to its abutment against the undercut.

For a convenient connection between the carrier plate and the stamped metal sheet, a holding element is provided on the carrier plate, preferably formed as one part, by means of which holding element the metal sheet can be locked to the carrier plate. The connecting movement then preferably results in a positive locking joint between the stamped metal plate and the carrier plate.

Here, the carrier usually has a plurality of suitable holding elements, which are formed as one part on the carrier. Usually, they are clamped at least in the edge region of the stamped metal sheet.

In order to fix and fully attach the metal plate to the carrier element, the metal plate comprises a holding opening assigned to the holding element, through which the holding element passes to be locked relative to the metal plate. Usually, the stamped metal sheet also includes holding openings of this nature in its central region. Thus, the stamped metal sheet is locked to the carrier plate and is thus firmly held not only at the edges but also at various points in its central region and preferably over its entire longitudinal extension. hold firmly.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, particularly secure locking occurs when the retaining opening is substantially centrally bridged by a retaining element ridge, wherein the retaining element ridge is formed as one part on the carrier plate, and the spring bar and the locking lug are removed from the The retaining element ridge protrudes downward, the spring bar is formed on both sides of the retaining element ridge, and the locking lug is arranged on the retaining element ridge, clamped behind the metal plate.

According to a preferred further development of the invention, the metal plate has a plurality of field elements which are assigned to the heating circuit of the electrothermal device and which group the electrically conducting paths. The field elements are initially joined together by connecting ridges so that the sheet metal can be produced as a unified part by stamping and bending. At least one of the flat plugs is assigned to each individual field element. The carrier plate includes punched openings leaving the connecting ridges free. The connecting ridge usually passes almost centrally through a suitable punched opening. The stamped openings, usually produced by injection moulding, facilitate passage of connecting ridges after assembly of the stamped metal sheets in order to electrically insulate the individual field elements from one another. Here, usually on the carrier side, at least one of the holding elements is assigned to each individual field element.

According to an equivalent method-related aspect of the invention, a plate comprising a conductive path is produced as follows: firstly by stamping or bending a metal sheet is used to form the conductive path and the field elements, which are formed by connecting ridges and The contact lug sockets provided in the field elements are connected together. Only the connection to the carrier board then takes place. According to the invention, the carrier plate is produced from plastic by means of an injection molding method. The connection ridges are separated only after the connection process in order to electrically insulate the previously uniformly produced and interconnected field elements. Typically, the carrier plate is initially fabricated independently of the metal sheet. However, it cannot be ruled out that the two parts are connected by overmolding the metal sheet and the carrier plate is manufactured at the same time.

Within the scope of protection of the method according to the invention, preferably each field element is positively locked to the carrier during connection, so that the individual field elements are firmly held on the carrier even after the connection ridges have been separated.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the inventive technology, the flat plugs are inserted into assigned flat plug holders after the carrier board and the metal plate have been connected. At the end of this insertion movement, which is usually determined by an insertion stop formed on the flat plug, the flat plug locks in the flat plug contact retainer and the flat plug formed on the plate contacts the receptacle Electrical contact is made with a corresponding flat plug by means of a plug-in connection. Thus, within the scope of the insertion movement, mechanical attachment and electrical coupling of the flat plug to the stamped metal plate is achieved.

Description of drawings

Further details and advantages of the present invention are described in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the attached picture:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a panel according to the present embodiment from an upper side perspective;

Fig. 2 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the panel according to the present embodiment from the perspective of the lower side;

Figure 3 is a perspective plan view of the upper side of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2 after all components have been connected;

Figure 4 is a perspective plan view of the underside of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2 after all components have been connected;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line V-V in Fig. 3;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view along the V1-V1 line shown in Figure 3; and

FIG. 7 is a detailed view of V11 in FIG. 3 .

Detailed ways

The part in the figure is a plate of a heating device, known for example from EP1 872 986 A1, which has a plurality of heating elements arranged in parallel rows. In this respect reference is made to the detailed description in EP1 872 986 A1. The disclosure content of this patent application is incorporated by reference in the disclosure content of the present application. In the following detailed description, only the components designed as switchboards in EP1 872 986 A1 are described in detail.

This plate is identified by reference numeral 1 in the figures and comprises a metal plate 10 , a carrier plate 20 and a plurality of flat plugs 30 .

Further, in the drawings, the upper side of the relevant part is marked by reference numeral 2 , and the lower side is marked by reference numeral 3 .

The metal plate 10 is made by stamping and bending a cold drawn contact material such as CuSnNi1Mg with a 2.5 micron thick silver coating. As a result of the stamping operation, the sheet metal is reshaped into a grid-like form. The metal plate 10 has five field elements 11 which are connected to one another by connecting ridges 12 . Each field element 11 has a plurality of contact lug sockets 13 formed by cutting an insertion opening leaving a contact spring 14 projecting downwards from an edge located opposite the insertion opening. out. These punched out contact springs are arranged relative to the upper side 2 of the sheet metal 10 by bending, so that from the underside 3 the tiny funnel-shaped conical tips of the contact springs 14 are produced.

The flat plug contact receptacle designated with reference numeral 15 also has a suitable contact spring 14 . A flat plug contact socket 15.1 to 15.5 is provided for each field element 11.1 to 11.5 (FIG. 3).

Further, the rectangular holding opening 16 and the inner opening 17 are formed on the metal plate 10 by punching. The remaining material portion of the metal plate 10 forms a ridged, partly planar conductive path 18 . All functional elements and functional areas of the sheet metal 10 are formed solely by punching and punching/bending operations on the sheet-like, sheet metal semi-finished product.

The carrier plate 20 forms a flat contact base 21 for the metal plate 10 on which a rigid part 22 extends through the inner opening 17 of the metal plate 10 . The contour of the rigid part 22 substantially corresponds to the edge contour of the assigned field element 11 so that the metal plate 10 is aligned with respect to the carrier plate 20 and the metal plate 10 can only abut it in a predetermined direction relative to the carrier plate 20 . The contact base 21 also has a spring bar 23, from which a locking lug 24 protrudes, which is shown enlarged in FIG. Forcibly lock the retainer. To this end, the spring bar 23 and the locking lug 24 are passed through the holding opening 16 and the locking lug 24 is clamped behind the underside 3 of the sheet metal 10 . A spring bar 23 extends from a retaining element ridge 25 which bridges said retaining opening 16 approximately centrally after the metal plate 10 and carrier plate 20 have been joined (cf. FIG. 6 ). The contact bases 21.4 and 21.5 for the field elements 11.4 and 11.5 are bounded at the edges by spring bars 23.4, 23.5 which have assigned locking lugs which in the connected state correspond to the corresponding The edges of the area elements 11.4 and 11.5 interact and secure them in a positive locking manner.

The outer contour of the sheet metal 10 is also clamped and positively locked by the spring rod 23 in the circumferential direction.

The carrier plate 20 includes punched openings 26 at positions corresponding to the positions of the connecting ridges 12 . In the connected state, the connecting ridge is located approximately in the center of the punched openings 26 .

The upper side 2 of the carrier plate 20 (which can be seen from FIG. 1 ) has five flat plug holders 27 and in each case three supports 28 distributed on the longitudinal sides above said upper side 2 protruding, said support terminates at the same height as said flat plug holder 27 . Each flat plug holder 27 has a slot 27.1 which is formed according to the thickness of the flat plug 30 and which results in a receiving area 27.2 which is surrounded circumferentially by the plastic material forming the carrier plate 20 and forms an undercut . Finally, corresponding to the contact lugs or flat plug contact sockets 13 , 15 , the contact sockets 29 are left free on the carrier plate 20 .

During the injection molding of the carrier plate 20 , all previously described elements of the carrier plate 20 are formed as one part with said carrier plate.

The flat plug 30 has locking projections 32 protruding from the oppositely arranged side faces 31 , which are formed by punching and bending a planar piece of the flat plug 30 . Furthermore, an insertion stop 33 protrudes downwards from the side of the flat plug 30, the free face side of the flat plug holder 27 being provided with a slot 27.3 for receiving said insertion stop.

For the illustrated embodiment, the carrier plate 20 is initially manufactured as one part by injection molding from a heat resistant plastic such as PBT. The metal plate 10 is produced by punching and bending. Then, the two parts 10, 20 are placed opposite each other. Here, the carrier plate 20 is generally oriented with its underside 3 facing upwards. After the metal plate 10 has been placed in place, the metal plate 10 is pressed onto the contact base 21 of the carrier plate 20 with a joining tool. In doing so, the locking lug 24 is locked against the edge of the holding opening 16 or against the longitudinal edges of the field elements 11.4, 11.5. In a similar manner, spring bars 23 arranged on the longitudinal edges of the carrier plate 20 latch relative to the metal plate 10 along its outer contour.

A separation operation is then carried out by means of a separation tool, for example by a punching tool, during which the connecting ridges 12 are separated. A punching punch is introduced through the punching opening and shears off the connecting ridge 12 . It can be seen in particular from FIG. 4 that the remainder of the connecting ridge 12 is located in the region of the punched opening 26 . Five field elements 11.1 to 11.5 are produced, which are electrically insulated from one another.

Thereafter, the flat plug 30 is introduced from the upper side 2 into the corresponding slot 27 . 1 of the assigned flat plug holder 27 . In the range of this insertion movement, the locking projection 32 is elastically pressed back into the plane of the flat plug material 30 . Finally, the tip of the flat plug 30 is pressed against the contact spring 14 of the flat plug socket 15 , which is initially formed to contact the contact spring 14 , so that it extends beyond the underside 3 for bending. The blade socket 13 is the same and extends beyond the upper side 2 of the metal plate 10 together with the contact lug socket 13 . This reshaping movement of the contact spring 14 is simplified by the precise guidance of the flat plug 30 by the socket 27.1. The flat plug 30 is usually pressed in by machine. The insertion movement of the flat plug is terminated when the insertion stop 33 abuts the bottom of the slot 27 . 3 of the flat plug holder 27 . This position is shown in sectional view in FIG. 5 .

The plate 1 produced in this way is then pushed onto the contact lugs of the individual heating elements in order to integrate them into the heating circuit according to the field elements 11.1 to 11.5. Here, one of the contact lugs of the relevant heating element is always contacted by the grounded area element 11.1, while the other area elements 11.2 to 11.4 are connected to a switch (in particular a power switch) via the assigned flat plugs 30.2 to 30.5, so The switch is soldered to a conductor plate which is placed on the support 28 and on the front side end of the flat plug holder 27 and has a flat plug socket for bringing the flat plug 30 into electrical contact with the conductive path (cf. EP1872986A1).

It should be pointed out that, in an embodiment, the heating circuit can be changed in a simple manner by omitting the total removal of all connecting ridges 12 .

List of reference signs

1 plate

2 upper side

3 lower side

10 metal plates

11 area elements

11.1-11.5 Zone elements for individual heating circuits

12 connecting ridges

13 Contact lug socket

14 contact spring

15 flat plug contact socket

16 keep open

17 internal opening

18 conduction path

20 carrier board

21 contact substrate

22 hard parts

23 spring bar

24 Latching lug

25 retaining element ridge

26 stamped openings

27 flat plug retainer

27.1 Slots

27.2 Containment area

27.3 Slots

28 supports

29 contact insertion opening

30 flat plug

31 side

32 Locking protrusions

33 Insert the lock.

Claims (12)

1. A method of manufacturing a plate (1) comprising conductive paths, wherein the carrier plate (20) is made of plastic material by means of injection molding and the metal plate (10) undergoes a stamping operation to form a connecting ridge ( 12) Area elements (11.1-11.5) connected together and contact lug sockets (13; 15) arranged in said area elements (11.1-11.5), said carrier plate (20) and said metal plate (10) are connected and then said connecting ridges (12) are separated. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that, during the connection, each area element (11.1-11.5) is positively locked connected to the carrier plate (20). 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a flat plug (30) is inserted into a flat plug holder (27) and is locked in said flat plug holder (27) at the end of the insertion movement. ) and is electrically connected to the assigned area element (11) in a flat plug contact socket (50) formed on said metal plate (10). 4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact lug socket (13) is formed in one part by stamping and bending on the metal plate (10). 5. Method according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that the contact lug receptacle (13) is formed with a contact spring (14) which can abut against oppositely arranged sides of a contact lug. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the carrier plate (20) is formed with at least one flat plug (30) formed as one part on the carrier plate (20) The flat plug holder (27) is held, and the flat plug holder extends on the carrier board. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that a flat plug contact socket (15) formed on the metal plate (10) is assigned to the flat plug (30) and is contacted by a plug connection . 8. A method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the flat plug (30) is formed from a sheet metal strip and comprises at least one locking protrusion (32) protruding from a side (31 ) out, manufactured by stamping and bending, and locked relative to said flat plug holder (27). 9. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the metal plate (10) is locked to the carrier plate (20) by means of retaining elements (23) formed as one part on the carrier plate (20) ). 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the holding element (23) is passed through the holding opening (16) in order to lock the holding element (23) relative to the metal plate (10). 11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the retaining opening (16) is substantially bridged centrally by retaining element ridges (25) of the carrier plate (20), formed on both sides of the retaining element ridges. A spring bar (23) on the side protrudes downwards from the retaining element ridge, and a locking lug (24) is clamped behind the metal plate (10). 12. The method according to claim 6, wherein the sheet metal (10) is stamped to form a plurality of area elements (11) assigned to the heating circuit of the electrothermal device, collecting conduction paths through the Said connecting ridges (12) are initially connected to each other and are manufactured as an integral part of a single piece of metal plate, and wherein at least one of said flat plugs (30) is assigned to a single area element (11), and said The carrier plate (20) forms punched openings (26) leaving said connecting ridges (12) free.